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Western Leadership Theory in Malaysian Organization

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Submitted By intan74
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Western Leadership Theory in Malaysian’s Organizations
Leadership in Hospitality Industry, HTH 765

Introduction
Malaysia is a developing country with variety of cultures. These cultures have a substantial influence on the people’s belief, attitude and behaviour. The world today is seeing more businesses going global to seize a wider market opportunities. Many companies from other countries have also been investing in Malaysia each day. However, the flowing entrees of these multinational companies do not diminish the Malaysians’ cultural values. Therefore, managers from the foreign or even local companies have to be able to adapt and operate effectively in different cultures.
This assignment paper will discuss further about the leadership theory that has been developed by the westerns towards the people in Malaysia. The question is whether they can adopt the western leadership theory in Malaysian cultural values? Or is it possible to practise a one-size fits all theory?

Background
Culture is among the influences to the attitudes and behaviour of individuals. It is defined as a collective mental programming of the people in an environment. It evolves from an instinctive behaviour to learn. Patterns of this behaviour may be acquired and transmitted from one generation to another, and finally developed into a system of things and events (Hofstede, 1980). Leadership is seen as 'the ability to influence people and get them to do what the leader has envisioned' (Abdullah ,2003). An effective leadership theory which is practiced in one region might not be effective in another different region. The differences in the value systems might lead to differences in the preference for leadership styles among Malaysian managers. Therefore, leaders could better understand the way they should lead by learning the style that their followers from different cultural

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